Letter 77 - Happy Birthday to John and Michelle!

Dear loved ones,

It is July!! What is happening?? In short, the week flew by filled with five house inspections, movie night with Jess, and game night with the Calls. 

FYI - it is our daughter, Michelle's birthday today!! And John's birthday is tomorrow! Happy Birthday to Michelle and John! 

I will get right to the pictures!

But first, thank you so much for your love, support, prayers and kind words! We love you and miss you!

Love,

Elder and Sister Brady (mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, John and Shelly, and so on)

Throwback to last week! We left off last Saturday wrapping up the RMRT Seminar. Since I didn't take any photos on Sunday, I will just post this great picture that my friend, Jan, took. This is an amazing group of humans! I am so happy that we have had the blessing to serve in Thailand and meet so many wonderful people! We are on the dinner cruise boat here with Wat Arun lit up in the background.

Monday night pizza with Jess! 

And then back to the apartment for movie night! I highly recommend the movie "Persuasion." It is a Jane Austin romcom on Netflix! 10/10!

Bye Jessica! Thanks for spending Monday evening with us! 

Tuesday - the house inspections begin! Elders Fairey and Htoo got an A++! See the picture below to find out why! 

We had never seen a shower door so clean in all of the inspections we have done here in Thailand! Elder Fairey gets bonus points for this sparkling shower door! 

The hard worked deserved some of Sandy's delicious pizza for lunch! We had finished eating before we remembered to take a picture. Sandy is so sweet. We love visiting her pizza place when whenever we go to Ramkhamhaeng. 

Wednesday we headed to Samut Prakan to do a house inspection at the zone leader's place. The flowers on the table were a nice touch! And then we saw what the note said: "House inspection flowers for the Bradys!" I confess that earned them some bonus points. We are not above bribery! Haha! 

Of course, their very tidy desks helped them earn a high score too! 

Our fearless zone leaders, Elders Gonder and Lewis! Elder Lewis leaves on July 16th! We are going to miss the 16 missionaries who are leaving this transfer! 

We met up with the Bangna Elders for lunch at Eat Am Are (not pictured). It was the first time Elder Brady ate there since his time in the hospital. We survived! We had to get some DQ after lunch! 

Pictured: Elders Gonder, Lewis, Aiono, and Auernig. Elder Auernig is also heading home. 

I just love how worn missionaries shoes are! I had to get a picture! 

Some of these shoes have holes on the soles! 

The Bangna Elders had a surprise on their balcony. One of the questions on the inspection form is: "Is your balcony free of clutter?" Other than the bird's nest behind the washing machine, it was clutter free.

The mama bird flew away and there was this sweet little baby bird!! And another egg ready to hatch! 

The Bangna Elders also did a great job! I loved the kitchen counter top aesthetics! 

Elders Gonder and Lewis had exchanges with the Bangna Elders once were done with the inspection. So they came with us and took a little rest while we finished up the inspection. 

I love this Thailand Bangkok East Monopoly Board hanging on their wall. This was created by President Kanyaphan, our mission leader. He is a good artist! 

Great job Elders Aiono and Auernig! They got an extra + on their score because . . .

They gave us a treat! Haha! These are Elder Brady's favorite! 

On the train home, there were posters all over advertising Cherries! The website at the bottom was nwcherries.com. I decided to look it up and they are cherries from OREGON, being advertised here in Thailand! For those of you didn't know . . . we are from Oregon! :)

Wednesday evening, we took a walk to Villa Market to get a few groceries. We checked the forecast and it looked like it would not be raining until 9pm. It was around 5:30pm at the time. We stepped outside after shopping, and it was starting to sprinkle. 

We made it about halfway home and it began to pour! 

We found some shelter in front of a hotel. We sat out the storm in some comfy chairs. 

It finally did blow over and we made it home! Whew!

Moral of the story, never trust the forecast, and always bring an umbrella during the rainy season! 

Thursday on the bus! 

All roads lead to Pepper Lunch! Elders Jones (also leaving - noooooo) and Hiltscher did a great job on their apartment cleaning too! 

Thursday evening we finally had the Calls over for a game night! We have been meaning to have them over since they got here at the end of January! Elder Call beat us all in Five Crowns and the boys beat the girls in Cribbage. John made a note of it, of course! 

Friday, we headed to the APs and Office Elder's apartment! And wow did they do a great job! 

They have a spacious apartment because they often have to host missionaries who come into Bangkok for transfers and zone conferences! The apartment was spick-and-span! 

Way to go Elders Lowry, Dollar, and Saunders (also leaving)!!

We headed to the mall where I found this sign on the wall of the bathroom when I stopped to use the bathroom. Interesting.

We ate lunch at Sizzler! It was fantabulous! The Salad Bar was so wonderful! I am always looking for a good salad! It was a little on the spendy side as my all you can eat salad was 250 baht, which is about $7.50 USD. Then I went online and saw that the salad bar prices back in the USA are about $18.99 for an all you can eat salad at Sizzler!! Is this true???????? 

The Salad Bar was free with the overpriced burger though! So that is good! :)

Lunch with the Elders! 

Sizzler was sponsoring a bit Salad Bowl Bowling at the Mall! 

It was basically Sizzler day! 

Friday afternoon, we went with the Calls and the Sisters (who were in town for immigration) out to get ice cream at Mixue! Sisters Lundberg (leaving), Allen, Sirisouk, and Jasper! We love these Sisters! 

Saturday!! I thought I was going to get this done on Friday, but the day got away from me! Happy Birthday to John! This throwback picture was taken last December when Elder Allred first arrived. 

Elder Borden on the left was his new trainer and they were heading down to Rayong. 

Somehow, they all figured out that they were all 3 born on the 4th of July! 

Happy Birthday to these Yankee Doodle Dandies! 

Saturday morning, we finally connected with Michelle to wish her a happy birthday. They had been out hiking all day at Yosemite and didn't have cell service. Just like last year we were able to wish happy birthday to Michelle (July 3rd evening in the USA) while she and her family wished dad/grandpa a happy birthday (July 4th morning in Thailand). I don't know when this will happen again! 

Throwback to 2nd grade! Look at this cutie patootie! 

Looking debonair in high school! Too cool for school! 

Speaking of John and Michelle! I love this picture of the them! Celebrating Michelle's Birth Day!! 

A birthday call from Rayong! It is our missionaries and Ma Beer and Ma Pen! 

Birthday donuts for the birthday boy (well, one was for me). These are the famous Mr. Donut donuts, the only donut shop that was in Thailand when Elder Brady was a missionary here back in the late 70s. It is is a fun treat and a perfect birthday cake! 

Well, that concludes this week's blog!

Thank you for reading!

We love you and miss you! 

Happy 4th of July!

Letter 76 - Happy Father's Day and RMRT Week

Dear friends and family, 

Happy Father's Day (last Sunday) to John, my dad, my step-dad, our son, sons-in-laws, and any other Dad who might actually be reading this Blog! We hope you had a wonderful day celebrating fatherhood!

I'm a day late posting because this past week was BUSY!! We had another Returned Missionary Return to the Temple (RMRT) Seminar that started on Wednesday and finished up today - Saturday. On top of that we had a couple of blessings from FSY (For the Strength of Youth Conference) on Tuesday. That meant we had to try and fit most of our office work into Monday. 

As always, I will let the pictures tell the story. So keep on reading if you want to know more about our week.

But first, we love you, we miss you, and we thank you for your love, support, prayers, and kind words!

Love, 

Elder and Sister Brady (mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, John and Shelly, and so on)

Last Saturday, we headed down to Chonburi for a house inspection with Elder Cypers and Elder Winfree. They did an EXCELLENT job! We celebrated with McDonalds for lunch! 

From Chonburi, we headed down to Rayong. We stopped for a restroom break and I had to take a picture of these cute fish! They are so random! 

When we got to Rayong, we stopped at a Makro. I have been to a few Makros and they are sort of like a Costco, but not really! Well, this one really was like a Costco!!! And I was so excited! We walked up and down all of the isles! There were so many interesting foods and products. And there was even a sample! Just one - but I took it! Mozzarella cheese on a meat stick! I can't believe we have never stopped at this Makro! 

Speaking of cheese, I thought these Oreo cookies looked interesting. They had a Cheese filling! We didn't buy any, but I will go back and get some if you think I should! 

At the checkout, we took one more picture to remember this Costco like Makro! On the way out, I bought the most delicious 8 baht coconut soft serve ice cream! It was out of this world! 

Sunday morning sunrise view from our hotel room in Rayong. 

Breakfast at the buffet. We always start out with healthy fruits and veggies. 

And then we move on to the important foods. 

A Happy Father's Day call in our hotel room! It is so amazing to be able to connect with our children who live halfway around the world! Michelle and Audrey and all of the Vernons facetime with dad/grandpa. We also heard from Katrina, Tessa, Kevin, Rikki, and Emily and families. 

Sunday evening zoom fireside with all of our favorite missionaries!

Grandpa getting a facetime call from his Granddog. Emily's corgi, Allen, can't figure grandpa out. 

If I spelled Allen wrong, Emily won't correct me because I don't think she reads the blog! Haha! 

Facetime call with my dad in Montana! They flipped the phone so I could see their beautiful view! 

Dad and Mama Linda sitting on their front porch on Father's Day - Sunday evening - on the longest day of the year. It was Monday morning for me in Thailand! Happy Father's Day Dad. 

Monday morning facetime with Kevin while he took a walk. Look at those blue skies! 

Monday after work, we got foot massages. This was just what my aching feet needed!

Tuesday morning patriarchal blessing. This great young man is from the USA, but lives in India. He was in Thailand for FSY. We had the opportunity to give him his patriarchal blessing. His name is Paul. 

This is Paul with his family. His older brother (standing next to Elder Brady) just got his call to serve a mission in Thailand! He will get here in November! Just before we leave!

This is Carter. He was such a nice young man. He is from the USA, but living in Cambodia. He was also here for FSY and got his patriarchal blessing. 

While we were back in the office, Elder Belleza stopped in! Well, I guess he is Euwan now! He is from the Philippines and served here in Thailand. He was an amazing missionary here. We worked with him in Rayong when he served their as a branch president and he was an AP in Bangkok. He was at FSY working as a counselor to the youth! We miss him and were so happy he stopped by.

Wednesday afternoon! It is time for the RMRT! The amazing Sister Packard from Hong Kong is in charge of the event. We have mutual friends (the Garlocks) back in the USA! It's a small world! 

Lunch looks delicious! 

It was beyond scrumptious! 

The dessert did not disappoint! 

Tata is one of the Country Office employees who helps with the RMRT event! She is so beautiful and so funny! We have loved getting to know her! 

We get to join the event as Senior Missionary Mentors, helpers, and patriarch. There are always a few RMs who have not had their blessings and Elder Brady is able to give them a blessing when they are in Thailand. 

Elder Tai speaks to the RMs during the opening devotional.

Sister and Elder Tai are such great speakers. They inspired us all with their messages and stories. I love this candid photo of Sister Tai laughing! They brought so much love and shared it with everyone. 

Elder Brady and Elder White got the memo to wear blue suits and brown shoes! I had to get a picture! Elder White was one of the first missionaries to serve in Thailand back in the 60s and he later came back with his wife in the 90s to serve as mission leaders. These two Elders spoke Monday evening. I spoke also. We talked about the temple and patriarchal blessings. 

This is beautiful Pui. We knew her as Sister Pathoumma. She is from Lao but she served her mission here in Thailand. It was so fun to see here at the RMRT!!

More amazing food!! We ate too much at this event! 

Thursday morning, we had to do a little office work, including a quick trip to the Post Office. These Lego like characters lined the tunnel to the subway! 

Next stop was a morning trip to the Temple. It is a long 1 minute walk to the temple from our apartment! I love this view of the Christus. The sun and the shadows in the reflection pool were so beautiful!

Thursday afternoon, we had the opportunity to meet the lovely Prasanna from India (here for the RMRT seminar) and give her a patriarchal blessing. The experience was so beautiful. 

After the blessing, it was time to board the bus to head to the river! Lovely Tata takes our selfie! 

Here we are at the River. The group likes to arrive about an hour and a half early so there is time for the YSA to shop at the Asiatique Mall for souvenirs. Everyone is told to meet back in front of the giant Ferris wheel at 7pm!

This Ferris Wheel is ginormous! You cannot miss it!

We have been here a few times now. I think it is our sixth Dinner Cruise. So we have a little routine! First, we like to walk around for awhile and then sit and people watch. 

Next, we like to get our 19 baht ice cream cones. Since dinner is not served until 8pm on the boat, we need to eat something to tide us over. Keep in mind, we normally eat around 5pm! 

This is our favorite bread. Crustless white bread! Why can't we buy this back in the USA?

I thought this sign said: "Wink I love you!" As you know we don't drink wine, so we don't love wine, but we do love each other! 

We came across this giant compass! You can see the arrows that point to the USA! It was North/Northwest to where we were standing! 

I loved this beautiful view of the skyline and the river. I was a little sad about the litter floating on the river greens. 

Asiatique Merry Go Round! 

Phinnapha, Pui, and Tanny take a selfie with us at the riverfront! 

Another beautiful view of the skyline!

Smile!

I am sure we will find out way back to the Ferris wheel. 

Waiting in line.

Finally on the cruise. Eating dinner with the Tais and the Packards. 

The beautiful skyline along the river. 

I love the lights on the boats that pass us by. 

Wat Arun. 

Elder Brady moving and grooving on the dance floor. In case you are wondering how he is feeling these days, the answer is - good enough to dance! He is actually feeling back to normal and we are so grateful!

We love to dance!

We can't stop!

Actually we can stop! It wore us out!! But in a good way!

Pui and Tanny smile! Tawny was actually laughing at us and our dance moves!! Haha!

Friday morning blessing. This is Chinraj from India. He is such a great young adult. He was fun to get to know!

Elder Brady gives him the printed copy of his his blessing. 

We are so glad he was able to be at the seminar !

We love our Sister Pui so much!

Time for lunch! Ashita, Pui, and Elder Brady are ready to eat. 

Our friends from India! Chinraj, Akash, Prasanna, Swathi, Ashita, 

and of course the Bradys and Sister White. 

We took this picture Friday afternoon in the rain!! 

Can you even tell we are being rained on?

Saturday lunch! Hello Elder Brady!

Well, that does it for this week. It is Saturday night and I am in my PJs ready to call it a night!

Thanks for reading!

See you next week!